If you’re over 65 you’d probably need additional dental coverage as the Medicare coverage doesn’t have ample provision for seniors’ oral healthcare. Dental care plans for seniors are tailored to address the gaps in your original coverage of Medicare. The best part: they comprehensively address your oral needs. But how much do these plans cost and what do they include? Let’s find out!
Medicare and Dental Coverage
As previously mentioned, dental plans aren’t included in your usual Medicare coverage. While there are some exceptions, having dental coverage included Medicare is still extremely rare. Luckily, you can still get dental coverage while using Medicare. The process is simple, inexpensive and easy to work with.
If you haven’t guessed already, we are talking about the Medicare Advantage Plan. Several Medicare Advantage plans include coverage for vision tests, dental screenings, additional prescription-based drugs. Since the benefits are collectively coordinated, the premium costs will already be included in the premium you pay for Medicare Advantage. There is, however, a downside to this arrangement: the dental benefits are merely limited to dental clean-ups, dental exams, and X-rays. So, if you want the coverage to be more comprehensive, it is best to settle with a stand-alone oral healthcare plan.
Stand-Alone Dental Coverage Plans
Many private insurance agencies offer a stand-alone oral healthcare plan. You do not need to coordinate these plans via Medicare. They are simple and incredibly easy to avail. While you will have to pay an additional premium for this, they are still affordable in terms of the coverage they offer.
What Is The Cost of a Senior Dental Care Plan?
If you opt for Medicare Advantage, the plan is likely to be already included in your monthly premiums. Alternatively, the cost of your individual oral insurance plans will depend on the type of coverage you choose. The monthly premiums range from $21 to $50. These numbers, however, can vary depending on the company you’ve chosen.
What Do Dental Insurance Plans Include?
Dental insurance plans for seniors include a range of services like oral evaluations, diagnostic cast, amalgam, X-rays, intra and extraoral films, denture sectioning, inlays, onlays, pulp cap treatments, root canal treatments, oral surgeries, incision, tooth transplantation and more. The exact services included in your package will depend on your dental insurance company. Note that more complex services might cost you more. When it comes to choosing a package, you will find the less-complex services grouped into a package while the more complex ones grouped into a different package. You can explore your options and finally choose the one that works best with your requirements.
Are Dental Insurance and Dental Discount Plans the Same?
Dental insurance plans are not the same as dental discount plans. While the discount plans are offered by most private insurance agencies, they do not hold the same features or benefits as insurance plans. These plans do not involve any co-payment or co-insurance option. They do not include deductible amounts either. The rates are, therefore, fixed. There is no option for pre-negotiation, nor can you avail free yearly check-ups or oral clean-ups. In these plans, the participating dental care professional agrees to offer discounts over some specific dental care treatments. So, the seniors who’ve opted for this plan will need to directly pay their dentist instead of paying any insurance premium. The upside to this arrangement is that you pay discounted rates only for the services you need. Another major benefit here is that they do not involve any waiting period and the discounted rates are extremely inexpensive.
Bottom Line
Now that you have a clear idea about what the dental coverage for seniors includes and how much they are likely to cost, go ahead and get these plans to thoroughly address your oral needs. Since there are several coverage options to pick from, you can thoroughly explore the features and finally choose the one that works best with your needs.
